Six Britons acting for the Wagner mercenary group linked to Russia have been handed jail terms for setting fire to a London-based warehouse that was storing relief supplies intended for Ukraine.
Sentencing and Roles
While delivering the sentences, the judge at the Old Bailey stated that they had orchestrated a “campaign of terrorism and sabotage” to benefit the Russian state.
The individual named Dylan Earl received a 17-year prison sentence with an extra six-year period on supervised release due to his “primary involvement”. Another defendant, Jake Reeves, a resident of Croydon, South London, was given twelve years in jail with an additional year on supervised release. The offences they admitted made them the first individuals to be found guilty under the National Security Act 2023.
Jakeem Rose, aged 23, also a Croydon resident, was jailed for a term of eight years and ten months. Nii Mensah, from Thornton Heath, south London, was given nine years imprisonment and Ugnius Asmena, who was without a fixed address, was handed seven years. The trio were each convicted of serious fire-setting and given a further year on supervised release by the judge.
Ashton Evans, a 20-year-old drug dealer from Newport in Gwent, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment plus a further year on extended licence after being convicted of withholding information about acts of terrorism relating to a separate scheme in the Mayfair area.
Details of the Attack
The deliberate fire on a Leyton-based storage facility in East London endangered sixty fire service personnel and resulted in £1m in damage in March of the previous year.
The court heard that the 21-year-old Earl and the 24-year-old Reeves remained in their residences while organising the attack for the Wagner group, acting on behalf of the Russian government.
The group selected the storage facility because it was being utilized for providing emergency relief and StarLink satellite equipment to Ukraine.
When the same Ukrainian company was subjected to an intentional fire 10 days later in Madrid, investigators from the Metropolitan Police's anti-terror unit assumed control of the investigation.
Evidence and Further Plans
When Earl was taken into custody, police analysis of his mobile phone uncovered he had recordings of the storage facility blaze being initiated and was in contact with the Wagner organization on the Telegram messaging app, via an account with the handles ‘Privet Bot account’ and ‘Lucky Strike’.
Some of the messages showed that preliminary surveillance for additional operations, involving fire-related incidents at a dining establishment and wine store in Mayfair owned by the Russian dissident Evgeny Chichvarkin had already been carried out. The use of explosives to damage buildings was also discussed.
Detectives found that Earl was also considering the possibility of kidnapping the dissident Chichvarkin and “sending him back to Russia to confront imprisonment”.
The individual involved in narcotics from Elmesthorpe in Leicestershire had talked about another potential attack in the Czech Republic.
In a residence inspection, law enforcement found a flag of Russia, more than £20,000 in cash and cocaine hydrochloride with a street value of about £34,000.
Motivations and Judicial Remarks
The proceedings revealed he was a member of multiple pro-Russian propaganda channels and was motivated by “plain and severe avarice”.
“This legal matter concerns the attempts by the Russian government to gain pernicious global influence using online platforms to enlist saboteurs far from the Russian capital.”
She found the arson attack had a “link to terrorism” regardless of whether the individuals responsible knew it. The Wagner organization is proscribed by the UK government as a terrorist organisation.
